Tiger Woods' dad foresaw this clash of privacy and celebrity for his son

December 01, 2009|By Fred Mitchell

Earl Woods knew there would be days like this for his famous son.

In 1997 and '98, I was able to spend a great deal of time with the Woods family, and a little with Tiger himself, working on the book "Playing Through" with Earl Woods.

I spent many hours with them in the Cypress, Calif., home on Teakwood Street where Tiger was raised, as well as on a few stops on the PGA Tour in Miami, New York, Chicago and Sotogrande, Spain, for the Ryder Cup. I was even invited to sit in on a Tiger Woods Foundation board meeting, over which Earl presided. I witnessed some of the behind-the-scenes efforts to preserve Tiger's privacy: the private jet, the personal security guards, the select inner circle of friends.

Earl, who died on May 3, 2006, knew that Tiger's international celebrity as a golfer would leave him vulnerable to excessive intrusion into his personal life.

"When it comes to the future scrutiny of Tiger, I hope the media will take a more sensible, less sensational but mature approach and conclude: 'You know, we really have something special here. Let's not ruin it for the game because the game is bigger than Tiger or anyone else in it,'" Earl said for the book.

"Athletes and celebrities are human beings. They are going to have arguments with their wives or girlfriends. They are going to make mistakes in judgment.

"In our society, we tend to build our athletes up, ostensibly just so we can tear them down. This is stupid. One day he is the greatest hero in the world for winning the Masters by a record-shattering 12 strokes, and the next day he is target practice."

Earl went on to compare the potential excessive media scrutiny of Tiger 12 years ago to the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Princess Diana, who reportedly was trying to avoid the paparazzi when she died in a traffic accident.

When I interviewed Tiger's mother, Tida, the phone must have rung six or seven times.

"If Tiger wants to talk to you, he will call you," Tida exclaimed before hanging up when young women called asking to speak to Tiger.

He was 22 then and already the world's best golfer.

Finally, Tida returned to the living room sofa, patted her shaggy dog and said to me of the pursuing young women: "Gold diggers! Gold diggers!"

Early Friday morning, as we all know by now, Tiger was involved in a one-vehicle accident in his driveway outside his estate in Windermere, Fla.

Published rumors quickly circulated that the accident was the result of a domestic argument with his wife, Elin, and that Tiger has been romantically involved with New York socialite Rachel Uchitel.

On Sunday, Woods released a statement on his Web site taking responsibility for the accident that left him semi-conscious, scratched and bloodied at 2:30 a.m. The Florida Highway Patrol said it will continue to investigate the accident.

"This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way," Woods said. "Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. ... I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received. But I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be."

I was able to spend a few private moments with Tiger in Miami to discuss his writing the foreword for the book before he was scheduled to conduct a golf clinic for inner-city youths. We talked casually about his friend Michael Jordan, about his favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, and about how much he enjoyed spending a couple of hours out of the public limelight.